Opinion

MOSCOW, February 29. /TASS/. Gazprom, Edison and DEPA will hold a cost efficiency assessment of gas supplies over the Black Sea bottom by the end of 2016, Chief Executive Officer of the Russian gas holding Alexey Miller said on Monday at the meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"A memorandum on assessment of the feasibility to build a gas pipeline from Russia over the Black Sea bottom to third countries was signed in Rome," Miller said. "The memorandum provides for a cost efficiency assessment to be held by 2016 year-end," he added.

"Our European partners and we proceed from the project prepared and developed by Greek and Italian counterparts in cooperation with French ones - the so-called Poseidon project: 12 bln cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas from Greece over the bottom of the Ionic Sea to the South Italy," Miller said. "Italy supports this project. The government of Greece is also providing support to this project," he added.

Gazprom, Italia’s Edison and Greek DEPA signed a memorandum on gas supplies from Russia over the Black Sea bottom from third countries to Greece and from Greece to Italy on February 24. The parties intend to maximize deliverables of work performed by Edison and DEPA within the ITGI Poseidon project [Turkey-Greece-Italy interconnector pipeline - TASS].

Opinion

Gazprom gas exports up in 2016

According to the official, Gazprom has boosted gas export by 37.5% year-to-date.

According to Miller, last year the company exported 159.4 bln cubic meters of gas, up 11.8 bln cubic meters, or 8%.

"Meanwhile if we speak about current trends gas export has risen by 37.5% since the beginning of 2016," he added.

In 2015, Germany was the biggest consumer of Russian gas as Gazprom delivered 43.5 bln cubic meters of gas to the country, up 6 bln compared with 2014. "However this year we’re facing an even greater growth of gas supplies to Germany and other big European countries. I mean gas supplies to Germany has increased by 44% year-to-date, to Italy - by 42%, to France - by 73%, to Austria - by 52%," Miller said. "In 2015 export grew by 11.8 bln cubic meters of gas in absolute terms whereas in the first two months of this year it grew by 7.5 bln cubic meters," he added.